Preview: India v Pakistan, 10th Match

Dead rubber or otherwise, whether the captains admit to it or not, every India Pakistan encounter comes with tons of pressure and with the stakes that are sky-high. The result is only of academic interest, but it is unlikely to be just another dead rubber as India and Pakistan square off at Birmingham.

Birmingham is the second most populous city outside of London. The city is home to a sizable number of Asian expats, whose voracious appetite for cricket has always seen Edgbaston wearing its prettiest frock when India and Pakistan play - Expect more of the same on Saturday (June 15).

India

India have already sealed their berth in the next stage with two impressive wins against South Africa and the West Indies. They will want to ensure their winning run is intact and give themselves and their fans a huge boost with a win against Pakistan.

Much like they always have whenever they have clashed story of the game, arch-rivals India and Pakistan will take fresh guard and MS Dhoni's men would do well to keep in mind that form, or the lack of it, will matter for nothing once the teams take the field.

India are familiar with the Edgbaston wicket. Riding on hundreds from Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik, India chased down 333 with consummate ease in a warm-up match against Sri Lanka on June 1.

India's batting remains their biggest strength. The opening combination of Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan has worked like magic.

Against quality pace attacks, the newly-constructed duo has put on 100-plus stands for the opening wicket and set the middle order up to control the rest of the innings.

Dhawan has been outstanding with back-to-back centuries. The last time the teams met, Pakistan surprised hosts India 2-1 in a short series in December 2012-January 2013.

Pakistan

With nothing to lose, Pakistan can prove to be even more dangerous opponents than they usually are. The agony of crashing out of the Champions Trophy after two horrible performances against West Indies and South Africa will be instantly forgotten if Pakistan beat India, the reigning World Cup champions and the No. 1 ODI team according to the ICC rankings.

Pakistan's batting has been a serious worry in this tournament. The absence of a grafter in the top-order has exposed the brittle middle-order too soon.

Except opener Nasir Jamshed and skipper Misbah-ul-Haq, none of the batsmen have fired. Mohammed Hafeez and Shoaib Malik's poor run with the bat hit Pakistan hard.

They have a brilliant bowling attack, comprising the likes of Saeed Ajmal, Junaid Khan, and Mohd Irfan, that is capable of bringing any batting line-up to its knees, but Pakistan really need their batsmen to step up to the plate if they are to be effective.

Stats

Champions Trophy history favours Pakistan. They have never lost to India in six editions of this event. Playing them twice and winning both.

Quotes

MS Dhoni: Well, there are two ways to look at it. If their thinking is that they have nothing really to lose, let's go out, be expressive on the field, don't bother about the result, then they can be dangerous. "But if the thinking is they are not qualified, this is a game against India, let's win this game so we have it as a consolation prize, they'll be in big trouble. So it depends entirely on what Pakistan are thinking.

Misbah-ul-Haq: It's a final for us. A win against the world champions will be a great compensation. At least, the fans will be happy. We know we are out of the tournament, but I have told the boys to look at every game as their last chance to prove themselves. We will express ourselves well tomorrow.